To establish a bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis mouse model and evaluate the therapeutic effects of allicin on pulmonary fibrosis.

Twenty-four C57BL/6 mice were divided into four groups, six mice per group, as follows: normal control, normal treated, model, and model treated groups. The model and model treated mice were induced with pulmonary fibrosis by intratracheal administration of 100 μl bleomycin (5 mg·kg concentration). After seven days, both normal treated and model treated groups received daily 100 μl of allicin (5 mg·kg concentration) for treatment, while equivalent volumes of saline were administered daily to the normal control and model groups. After three weeks, the mice were euthanized, and lung tissues were harvested for analysis. Fresh lung tissue samples were embedded, sectioned, and stained with HE and Masson′s trichrome to compare the pathological changes among the different groups. Additionally, lung tissue levels of hydroxyproline (HYP), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activity, and malondialdehyde (MDA) content were measured.

Mouse weights at 1, 7, 14, and 28 days were: normal control group (20.49±0.55), (22.09±0.51), (23.76±0.57), (25.08±0.64)g; normal treated group (20.55±0.65), (21.79±0.70), (23.12±0.57), (24.64±0.49)g; model group (20.56±0.74), (19.78±0.77), (18.70±0.86), (17.67±1.11)g; model treated group (20.78±0.77), (21.49±0.81), (22.45±0.86), (23.81±0.72)g. Post-treatment with allicin, there was a reduction in alveolitis and significant improvement in pulmonary fibrosis. The pulmonary tissue HYP concentration values were: normal control group (0.87±0.09) μg/ml, normal treated group (0.86±0.03) μg/ml, model group (1.54±0.24) μg/ml, and model treated group (0.90±0.09) μg/ml. T-SOD activity levels: normal control group (24.20±0.11) U/mg, normal treated (24.29±0.14) U/mg, model group (14.75±0.64) U/mg, model treated group (19.25±0.69) U/mg. MDA contents: normal control group (1.21±0.08) nmol/mg, normal treated group (1.18±0.13) nmol/mg, model group (3.23±0.07) nmol/mg, model treated group (2.42±0.05) nmol/mg.

Allicin mitigates pulmonary fibrosis in the bleomycin-induced mouse model by reducing HYP and MDA levels and increasing T-SOD activity in lung tissue.